


Dream Again

by CrazyBoneLady



Series: Dream Again AU [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Forsaken spoilers, Lightless!Cayde, More tags to be added, Post-Forsaken, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-16 14:02:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17551037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyBoneLady/pseuds/CrazyBoneLady
Summary: Even after losing his light thanks to Prince Uldren and the Barons, Cayde-6 refuses to rest and settle down. He and Nevia leave the safety of the Tower to go on their own adventure, help their friends, discover a long lost secret and meet strange allies.





	1. Prison of Elders

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU born from chatting with my dear friend Seige. It takes part Post-Forsaken and Cayde survives here. Haha! There is not much to say. You can always talk to me on Tumblr: crazy-bone-lady
> 
> Enjoy <3
> 
> I will update these as I go. Three parts are already uploaded on Tumblr.

I dream of towers in a world consumed  
A void in the sentient sky  
I dream of fissures across the moon  
Leaves of the lotus rise 

Miracle of Sound - Dream Again

~~

“You girls ready for this?” Cayde stepped up next to Siobhan and Nevia, who both turned their heads towards the Exo. “Not that I’m leaving you behind somewhere on the way.” The tone in his voice was teasing and Nevia recognized a certain thrill. Of course, he was excited to be back out in the field. She gave him a smirk and shook her head.

“You better try to keep up with us, old man.”, Sio replied and checks the magazine of her precious Pulse Rifle, having Arawn using a transmat to get it out of her hands only a moment later. Nevia eyed her best friend’s purple Rocket Launcher. This was going to be a fun day.

“Yeah, yeah, you keep talking, Kid.”

“You two done?” Nevia looked up, swirling Taranis in her right hand. Jareth had forged this sword for her as a dawning gift. For the Crucible, she still preferred Quickfang, because of it’s speed, but Taranis was charged with arc energy, adding more force to her hits and it’s perfect balance allowed her wild maneuvers. The Better Devils was strapped to her thighs and the Ahamkara bones of her Gauntlet gently swayed in the rhythm of her beating heart.

“You had to bring these creepy things.” Cayde looked at the moving bones and Nevia just shrugged. Neither Siobhan nor Cayde approved of her wearing this special piece of armor, but she felt comfortable with it on her arm, offering her peace of mind in the heat of battle.

“Are you sure you want a third wheel with you on your date?” Nevia laughed at her friend’s comment and shook her head. She didn’t waste anymore time and jumped down from the ledge, they were standing on, landing almost silently on the ground below. The Prison of Elders was a mess, though she was impressed. Sure, she had fought in this arena countless times, but never saw the actual inside of this huge complex.

It didn’t take long for them to encounter the first pack of Fallen attacking them from all sides. Without hesitation, Nevia stormed forward, sword in hand and sliced through the first Dreg passing her by, accompanied by the sound of Siobhan’s Pulse Rifle and Cayde’s Ace of Spades. The bullets were rushing by her ears, but she trusted both of them not to hit her. She could almost feel Chia’s distress. Her poor little Ghost, always so worried.

“Can you please not shoot my wife!”, she heard Cayde over the comms.

“Could you not hit my best friend?!”, Sio shot back.

“Can you two please shut up?!”, Nevia snapped, as she pulled her blade out of a Vandal’s back.

“Could everyone please focus now?!”, Petra dropped, the sound of gunfire accompanying her words.

“Sorry, Petra!”, they all three answered in union, before the fight continued without much of a break. Running around the corner, the hunter group came face to face with a literal Deathsinger. Nevia’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t seen any of these, since they took down Oryx. Where the hell did Variks get these from? A dark smile appeared on her lips and Taranis swirled once more in her hand, before she started charging forward.

“Fire in the hole!”, Siobhan cried a bit further away. The sound of a rocket unleashing behind her caught Nevia’s attention. “Get down, Nevia!”

That she did. Once she could almost feel the heat of the missile at the back of her neck, she used the full speed of her run and dropped to the floor, sliding over the cold metal, keeping her head as low as possible. Almost in slow motion, the rocket flew over her head. She looked up, watching it pass by and then hitting the Deathsinger full frontal in the face. The explosion shook the whole corridor and Nevia’s small, sliding form vanished into a thick cloud of smoke, which only slowly vanished, when the dust settled from the impact. She glanced down at the Deathsinger, now in fact dead, and smirked. Nevia twirled around and jumped into the air with a joyful shout.

“That was amazing!”

Sio jogged over to her and she patted her on the shoulder. “Looks like we’re in the clear here, let’s move on to the lower levels.”

“There’s pretty high activity on the upper and lower floor right here. If you guys feel kinda bored.”, Sundance dropped in, staying hidden with Cayde, only speaking over the comms.

“Ha, what a coincidence. I go top, you go low, girls. See you on the other side.” He jogged off and jumped up towards the next floor.

“Usually you like it when I top.”, Nevia commented, while she pushed a door open to get downstairs.

“You guys are disgusting.” She could literally feel the rolling of Sio’s eyes in her voice and it caused her so chuckle.

“I need you all in the security hub to get these systems back online. I will check the levels further below. Ha.. I love field work.”, Petra sighed and was gone from their comms again.

“You and me both, PV.”

The two awoken hunters left Cayde to the top level and cleared out the two floors below, before they could make their way to the giant platform in the middle of the prison. Nevia sat foot on one of the bridges and looked down. It didn’t look very trustworthy.. “Can’t be afraid of heights here, I guess.”

“Hey girls, incoming!” The Exo’s voice made them both look around, until Sio just looked upwards and Nevia followed her eyes. From above, there came Cayde.. flying from one of the Debris upstairs, colliding with the hull of the security hub, barely holding on. “Whoops. That looked better in my head.. Well! Let’s move on. Ya ready to go? Oh.. there’s a door!… IT’S A TRAP!… Just kidding.” And he was gone, vanished into said door.

“Sometimes… I swear, by the Traveler’s saggy balls..”, Nevia grumbled and returned Taranis to her waist, replacing it with the Better Devils.

“You married that man. Now, let’s see what’s going on down there.” Siobhan held out her hand and Arawn appeared, hacking the entrance to the large, round room. The sides were covered in something like..pods? Nevia shook her head and turned towards Cayde, who was wildly pressing buttons on the consoles.

“This is going to end like Nessus, I see that coming.”, Sio mumbled.

“Maybe it turns out worse than Nessus?”

The Nightstalker’s horrified face mad Nevia snort and the moment later, they had to open fire on a horde of Hive, which were ambushing them from below the center. Feeling overwhelmed with the number of enemies, Nevia summoned her arc powers and they formed her staff within the blink of an eye. She danced among the Akolytes and Thralls, they all perishing in lightning and thunder. With one last elegant swing, she came back to stand and the staff vanished. Nevia took a deep breath and reloaded her gun.

“I… I am so turned on.”, was Cayde’s useful comment, before he stared a moment and then continued working. Siobhan said nothing for now, but Nevia knew her best friend hated it, when they flirted in front of her like that. It took another wave of Hive, thousands of buttons to press, which Cayde pressed..all at once.. before security went back online. Siobhan looked back and forth between her friends and sighed annoyed.

“I’m going and activate the other terminal. Then join Petra. You have fifteen minutes.”

Outside, Siobhan fought her way through a horde of Fallen and Cabal, fighting each other. All of a sudden a turret next to her came online and started firing at the enemies. Confused, the huntress progressed forward, not paying much mind to the odd reaction times of the machines, she managed to catch sight of Petra on the bottom of the Prison.

“Where are Cayde and Nevia?”, she asked over the comms, looking up to Siobhan.

“Busy.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yep.”

“How can you guardians even get anything done?”, she sighed heavy and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I was so free and isolated their comm channels from yours.”, Arawn appeared next to Sio’s shoulder, looking at his guardian. It took only a few more minutes, before said two channels opened again and Cayde dropped on.

“Hey, how did you like our new guns?”, he sounded cheerful, too cheerful, in the background, Nevia was laughing. She emerged shortly after from the security hub and jogged down the balconies to join Siobhan.

“What did he mean by your new guns?”, she asked the other huntress. The Arcstrider just grinned and shrugged. “Have you… No.. while firing the turrets?!” The answer was yet another shrug. “Fuck’s sake.. Why am I even friends with you two.”

“Because you love us.” Cayde had stepped out onto the bridge on the other side and looked down at Petra.. and then.. was when everything went to hell.

~~

Nevia’s sight was blurry. What had just happened? She could only get on her feet slowly, Chia was flying around her with hectical movements, healing wounds, fixing bones. When she was able to see again, she examined her surroundings. Around her was the wreckage of the security hub. She looked at her ghost in question.

“After Petra informed us of the Prison Break, Cayde decided it was wise to block the only exit with..well.. this. We dropped over 20 levels down and crashed here. I lost contact to the others…” Nevia patted her ghost lightly on the shell and checked her weapons.

“We’ll find them.. Let’s move and we see, how far we get.” She was all set. Her hand cannon was without damage and so was her sword. She returned the Better Devils to it’s holster and took Taranis in her hand. When something was about to get the jump on her, she would rather be able to defend herself directly. The path in front of her was nothing but crashed corridors, broken vents and holes in rubble, where she could fit through. Chia traced some dark kind of ether through the destroyed prison. “I hope Siobhan, Cayde and Petra are alright…”

“I’m sure they are.”, the small ghost tried to cheer her guardian up.

Nevia herself wasn’t so sure about that. A bad feeling was settling in her stomach, crawling it’s way up to her heart.

She climbed out of a vent, quietly dropping onto the corridor beneath it. It was a whole row of these..pods… cells? Was this a cell block? Anyway they were all opened. Something had broken out in all this chaos and this corrupted Ether was all over the place. Nevia crouched down to take a closer look at it. “I’ve never seen anything like it. And we saw a lot in our time..”

Chia hovered down as well, trying to take scans. “I agree… I don’t feel good. You sure, we should move on?”

“Should we leave our friends to die down here?”, she almost snapped an answer, but instantly regretted it. “I’m sorry, Chia.”

“Don’t worry. I understand and you’re right. We should get moving. Come on, up to your feet. There is a rather clear path ahead, no movement detected.” Chia vanished again, though she was always with Nevia, never leaving her side, a comforting presence lingering in the back of her mind, only speaking up when needed.. or she wanted to.

Dropping onto the next lower floor, Nevia landed quietly, looking around only to find more of these Ether tracks. A low growl caught her attention and out of the walls spilled enemies…They looked fallen at first glance, but more like they had been changed, transformed and Chia confirmed her suspicion a moment later. There was nothing for her to do except reaching for her Better Devils and start firing. The floor just wouldn’t stop. When her ammo ran low, she switched to her sword and with Taranis she slaughtered what came into her way, her armor covered in strange fluids, which were probably the blood of these creatures. “I sense light below, Nevia!” Chia appeared next to her, visibly excited. “Sio or Cayde, I can’t make it out.. But one of them is alright.”

“Well, that’s at least something. Let’s find a way down. How much further?”

“Only one floor. There is a breach in the floor a bit ahead.”

Nevia moved forward with caution. She really had no desire to stumble over these things again anytime soon. The simple thought made a shiver run down her spine. She reached the whole in the ground.. Well, when Chia said it was a breach, she didn’t lie. Something had torn the whole ground apart and from her position here, she couldn’t see much. Carefully, she stepped forward and dropped down. The second her feet hit the floor a low explosion shook her surroundings.

Alarmed she looked around, she didn’t see it coming, the wave of light flooding the whole lower part of the prison. It hit her with incredible force, lighting her veins on fire for a moment and it was painful, she almost screamed. Chia looked at her. The ghost’s optic was nothing but hectic movements and the words ‘Oh no, nononono…’

Nevia had to get her bearings. She looked at her hands. Something had changed..her light.. An explosion of light? “Chia.. Tell me what happened.. What was that?!” She had seen guardians die, back when she was down in the Hellmouth with her fireteam. When Yaralia’s ghost was broken underneath the foot of a Hive knight…

Chia seemed like she didn’t know what to do. She just stared at her guardian. “Sundance.. They killed Sundance. Nevia, if we don’t reach Cayde, he’ll die. For good.”

Her heart felt like it dropped onto the ground. Panic rose in her chest and her hand clenched around her sword. “Point me in the direction. Now, Chia!” Without waiting much further, Nevia started running. She could feel her light pulsing in her head, heart, everywhere, as if it was just willing to consume her anytime.

“Left!”, her ghost commanded and Nevia threw herself to the ground to slide around the corner and just continue running. “Down!” Without thinking, she jumped over the railing and landed painfully on a floor below, which was mostly just rubble and covered in the remaining of the security hub. “Behind that vent, there was the source.. That was where Sundance left us.”

She wanted to cry, scream, but there was no time. The life of her husband was on the line. Nevia managed to push aside the grid, which covered the vent and her eyes landed on Cayde, who was surrounded by a group of huge Fallen. One of them walked towards him, swinging a burning mace in their hand. Cayde looked at his hand cannon and lifted it for one last shot. He was ready to die. She wouldn’t allow it.

She slid down a large piece of metal and landed on her feet, unnoticed by these abominations and Cayde. Nevia looked up and used the power of her light to jump up to another small catwalk above her. She quickly rushed along it, until she was above them. The one with the mace lifted their arm, ready to strike and she screamed: “No!”, dropped down as suddenly Solar energy unleashed itself in her body and mind, veins literally burning and in her hands didn’t form her usual Arc Staff, but a bunch of burning throwing knives. No second to waste, she didn’t think about it and spun in a circle, letting them fly and hit their targets. It was natural and came as easy, as the deadly dance of her staff.

Nevia landed in front of Cayde, one hand on the ground, but she glared at the biggest Fallen of the group. Her whole body was still bathed in Solar Light. Her enemies were only slightly wounded by her attack but it was enough to make them pull back. A shadow from the back caught her attention. Height of an average man and these giants..they parts for him to pass. When his face revealed, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She knew things were going on in the Reef but like this? Uldren Sov stared at her from his bright orange eyes.

“Don’t you dare.”, Nevia warned him. “I will not let you get away, piece of shit.”

But instead of paying any mind to her threat, Uldren just chuckled. “Ah, so protective. Come on then. Try. I’ll make sure to give you my undivided attention, but ask yourself what your lightless husband would do then… “

His words sank in. She was helpless. Would she stop them from escaping, they could easily put an end to Cayde, even if she knew, he would want her to act exactly like this… She couldn’t. So Nevia stayed silent, hand clenching around the sword grip, but the glow around her slowly faded. “You will not get away with this.”

“And who is going to stop me..exactly? You? Hah.”

No, she wouldn’t stop him and leave Cayde unprotected. So Nevia watched him go.. leaving with his monstrosities, saying nothing. The gate closed in front of her eyes and she turned towards her husband, laying coughing on the ground. He hadn’t said a word, since she stepped in front of him. She lifted her hand and Chia instantly appeared, checking him over and started to heal, what she could. “You damn idiot.”, Nevia hissed at him. “What were you thinking? You could have died down here… Sundance died! Why do you have to be so reckless! We could have lost you.”

“Sundance..”, he paused, apparently not having exactly the strength to speak. “I.. couldn’t.”

“Stop talking. Chia, how bad is it?” Nevia looked like she was in pure distress. The fear of losing the man she loved was too present in her mind, that she could even think clearly.

“Bad.. I’m doing what I can, but I’m no expert on this.. I’m no Braytech engineer, Nevia. We need to get him back to the Tower, where he can be treated properly.”

The same moment, her ghost finished, the door swished open again and Petra came running through it, covered in Scorn blood and scratches on her face. “What happened? Oh no.”

“He’s not dead. We need to get him out of here. Have you had any contact to Siobhan?” The answer to her question was just the other awoken woman shaking her head. Nevia had to make a decision. Going to look for her best friend or save her husband’s life. Her heart was torn in two. Sio was her sister. If anything happened to her, she would never forgive herself but Cayde was mortal now. As mortal, as an Exo was anyway. But he had only one life left to give and she would protect it. “Petra.. We have to leave for the Tower. Cayde needs urgent medical attention.. Please, look for Siobhan? I don’t know, if she is alright or not..”

“Of course. Are you sure, you two can manage everything else?” Petra put her gun away and looked at Cayde, obvious concern in her eyes.

“Yes, we’ll be alright..” ‘Hopefully’ she added in her mind and with that, she turned her attention away from Petra, who was just leaving. Cayde looked bad. His was was completely ruined and his armor wrecked. Nevia felt like she was about to cry, but she refused to break down in front of him. “Chia, can we transmat him to our ship?”

“I think so. It’s not like we have another choice, really. Don’t worry about Siobhan, she’s fine. I’m sure. Tell me Nevia, did you notice something about Uldren?”

“Aside from being the prick he usually is? I have no idea what this just was.. He seemed..strange. I can’t pinpoint it but I’ve seen him many times before.. You’re right, something was off. But I couldn’t care less if Uldren Sov would get dumped somewhere in the universe. Get ready for transmat.” Cayde wanted to say something, but she cut him off with a stern look and a moment later.. They were on her ship, back on their way to the Tower and the help, he really needed.


	2. Ace in the Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nevia makes it her task to repair the Ace and finds more, than she signed up for.
> 
> ~~~

I am the crack of your voice  
Static in the sound  
I am the bias in your choice  
I am the shadow in the noise  
I scorch the ground 

Seabound - Scorch the Ground

~~~~

“You are not going to the Reef.” Zavala’s voice was serious and almost threatening. The last days had kept them all on the edge. Ikora had sworn revenge, but stepped back on it. The Commander just wanted to protect his walls without peeking over it. And here she thought they had learned from the past. Nevia was incredible frustrated, as she stood on the corridor of the Infirmary on the lower levels of the Tower. 

“Nevia, we can’t give you the support to go out there by yourself. Cayde needs you here. The doctors and engineers say, they are still not sure, if they have to reboot him and no one around here even knows how to do that properly. He is not completely out of danger yet.” Ikora, hands behind her back, tried to be the voice of reason, tried to build a bridge between the angry huntress and the protective Titan. 

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me! You guys let him just do his thing, yes sure, let him go to the Reef and do shady stuff. Do you even know what he has been up to?!”, she shot back, hissing mostly at Zavala. He wanted to deny her revenge for the lost light of her husband and she was more than furious about it. “Wasn’t Savathun’s shadow enough for you?”

“We never found proof about Oryx’s sisters presence that day on the moon, Nevia. We can’t chase an enemy, we’ve never seen before. We have to think of our people first.”, Zavala reasoned. 

“Your people, Zavala. I’m not one of your wall-shitters. I’m a hunter. I belong into the wilds. I do not answer to you. Until we have a new Hunter Vanguard, I do what I fucking please.” She swirled her hunter knife between her fingers, a way to relieve stress or she would explode. The fear of losing her husband hadn’t passed yet. If they had to wipe his memories, who would he become then? Not the man she knew and loved. Nevia wasn’t sure, how many reboots Cayde had exactly. He wrote in one of his journals that he would never go higher than six. 

“You are a guardian of the city and I will not tolerate you going rogue on us while Cayde is here, recovering from an almost death.”, he replied with slightly narrowed eyes and his voice was so calm and steady it made her even more furious. 

“They shot Sundance. Cayde is lightless. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!”

Though before he could answer, Ikora lifted her hand and silenced her fellow Vanguard member. “We understand how you feel. Yet we need the city united. We cannot help you with your quest, nor grant you permission to go, as much as I wish death and destruction upon Uldren Sov.” 

“You know nothing, Ikora.”, Nevia forced out, baring her sharp teeth. “Now leave. I want to be alone with my husband.”

“As you wish.” 

They left her alone then. Alone with her thoughts and fear. She wished Siobhan was here.. Her best friend always knew what to say, to comfort her, but she had vanished after the fall of the Prison of Elders. Nobody has heard of her ever since and so she was left thinking her lost as well. It was a burden, which crushed her heart underneath it’s force. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked down the corridor to the last room on the left. The door swished open silently.

The room itself was small, just offering enough room for a bed, some chairs and a table. In front of the bed laid Coco, lifting her head and her tail wiggling, when she saw Nevia. Colonel sat idle on the sheet covering Cayde, who was still knocked out, but alive. That was what mattered, right? She looked him over and sat down beside him on a rather uncomfortable chair, pulling her knees to her chest and staring at the wall ahead. “You can’t go. Don’t let them erase your memories.. Our memories.. Please fight..” 

It was all she said for the coming hours. Everything she did since they returned from the Reef was sitting by his bed and watching over his recovery. She felt like it was the right thing to do, however, staying still for so long didn’t match well with her hunter lifestyle and soon she would grow restless. Here she hoped, Cayde would return to her soon and they could talk. There was a lot to talk about.. The loss of his light.

Anxiety hit her hard. What if he was changed without his light? Losing Sundance would surely be devastating for him. They would figure it out.. Like they always did. Just another fight for them. No, not entirely true. Losing a friend, a companion was so much worse..

For now, Nevia decided to believe in their relationship, that it was strong enough to hold under all this pressure. 

~~

Three days later, Nevia found herself on Titan. She just landed in front of the Arcology, holding out her hand and Chia appeared, hovering over it. “Cayde’s stashes are deep in the Arcology. You won’t like that. It’s crawling with Hive of all types.” 

“I wonder, what he was thinking… I know, I shouldn’t be looking for these, but we need the parts to repair the Ace. Banshee gave us a list and I know Cayde is hiding his stuff always in these crates… But this is actually.. A bit disturbing.” The huntress sighed and reloaded her gun, sword strapped to her hips. 

“He hid these when he was lightless during the Red War in the middle of Vex armies on Nessus… You know, he is crazy.” 

“It’s part of his charm.”

“Like a dirty sock.”

“Cotton Socks.”

Her ghost made an irritated noise. “Sometimes I hate you.” Nevia only laughed at her remark, shaking off the anxiety and finally focussing on the mission. She carefully aimed forward once she entered the Arcology. One wrong step could mean hundreds of Hive crushing down on her. Not an idea she was exactly fond of. 

The way down was weirdly quiet. Maybe since they interrupted the ritual down with Savathun’s Shrieker, the Hive grew calmer. Or it was just the silence before a storm. 

She could feel the Ahamkara bones resonating with the magic around them. Yes, magic. Even if the ‘great’ Ana Bray said it was just science. She had learned to shut the voices out over time. The support of her family made is possible to recover from her nice little trip to the moon before the Red War. Neither if Siobhan liked it or not, the bones calmed her anxiety and fears in battle and around everyday life. Nobody knew, except for her and Cayde.For everyone else they were just a creepy armor piece. 

“Do we know, where Cayde hid his stashes?” Chia tilted her shell a bit into her direction. 

“I have the rough location in the Arcology. Sio described it for me some time ago. Otherwise we have to look around closely. You should recognize Sundance’s light signature, yes?” The name of Cayde’s ghost hung like a dark sadness over them for a moment. It only brought more realisation that he was indeed now lightless and had only one life left. They had to be careful.. So careful. She wouldn’t allow him to die. 

There wasn’t anything left to discuss between the two, so Nevia made her way down. Better keep quiet around the Hive. Not that they encountered many, until they reached the platform, which overlooked a giant lake.. under the ocean. Humans were incredible weird sometimes. A lake surrounded by a forest. She wondered how the people lived here in the Golden Age? She couldn’t just.. stay underwater. For her, it was a claustrophobic thought. 

“There is one ahead at the end of the bridge.. I can read a data signature connected to the lock of the stash.. I don’t know if we should open these, Nevia.” Chia narrowed her optic lightly.

“It’s the only way to get the parts we need for the Ace.”, was her only comment, as she proceeded forward. Taking out the few Thrall’s which were just idling by hadn’t been a problem. Now she stood in front of the crate, looking down at it with a heavy heart. 

When she opened it, a message started playing. It was recorded for Eris for the case that she did, in fact, kill him and it had several apologies regarding her ship, that they took to the Dreadnought… Why did these times feel so much easier? Now it’s all.. unbeatable odds against even more unbeatable odds paired with drama and tragic… Back in the day it was just unbeatable odds. 

The next one was for Taniks… That Fallen mercenary… She remembered them taking down this guy together with Siobhan and Jareth. The list of Cayde’s possible killers was strange… There was always one for the Drifter and she wondered what this mission included, Cayde spoke about. What also crossed her mind, was.. Why had she never noticed him recording any of these? Maybe she was on patrol back then..He was usually prepared for most possibilities. 

But the message for Petra...especially the last part… 

‘Tell ‘Paladin Oran’: If the sun over Nessus escapes nebula cycle, evac labor after dawn, under solstice.’

Paladin Oran didn’t exist, she knew that. This was a hidden message from Cayde to petra. “Chia, record this one. We’ll figure it out later when Cayde’s back and awake. This is an encrypted message.. Why did he keep secrets from me?” She felt her heart clench and shook her head. “Let’s move on..”

“We are still missing a few more parts from the list Banshee gave us. Did you pick up everything from the crates?” Chia hovered next to her, her optic moving wildly. She was concerned. 

“I did. Here is the next one.” She pointed upwards, where a faint glow markes the location of another stash. It was a bit of a way, being bothering by shriekers and various waves of Thralls.. But she made it.. Hive structures.. Disgusting. Why were they so squishy here on Titan? She remembered the big buildings on the Moon or the Dreadnought. It looked all so..impressive.. This here was just disgusting. 

“Ready?”, she asked, standing in front of the stash. Chia gave her a short nod, but the message, that revealed itself to them was nothing what Nevia expected. It literally felt like her head was about to explode. Cayde’s voice carried such a darker tone here. One, she hadn’t heard in a very long time.. He was threatening.. But the words confused her..

‘This one’s for the minds behind the Deep Stone Crypt..’

Deep Stone Crypt.. She knew from her Exo friends what it was supposed to be..or what they believed it was. A facility.. a subroutine.. creating Exo minds and also resetting them after assignments, making them lose their memories and thoughts. A Cruel thing. 

‘You think just because you made me, you can unmake me? Hey, I understand. I were you, I wouldn’t want people knowing what I did either. Guess you better hope I didn’t tell anyone about the crypt. Or about the… what was it? Oh yeah.. Long Slow Whisper. ‘Cause if I did, that would be real bad for you, huh? I may be dead, but I guarantee you ain’t heard the last of me.’

The recording ended and Nevia stood there, stunned by the hateful words of her husband. What had been going on in his past lives that he held so much anger in him and never told her about it? Their relationship was based on the fact to not keep secrets.. It sounds like Cayde had found out where the Deep Stone Crypt was and maybe now he knew too much.. 

If he did find the Deep Stone Crypt, he sure didn’t tell her.. And maybe the message to Petra had something to do with it. Cayde had a lot of explaining to do. She also asked Chia to save this recordings and then moved on, trying to sort her thoughts and not letting them run wild about how betrayed she felt in this moment. 

The remaining messages were more like a blur, some amusing some just strange. Ikora’s was very touching and she smiled while listening to it. They were good friends and even if the relationship between Nevia and the Warlock Vanguard was very strained, she was glad that Cayde had her by his side. 

She made her way further through the Arcology, after shooting down a giant ogre, she reached the end. A platform over a dark abyss, the only light coming through the giant windows with the methane ocean outside. A huge leviathan passed and she wondered what it was.. 

“Over there, Nevia. That’s the last one, then we should have all the parts.” Chia left her side to fly over a small gap towards the stash hidden at the end of another platform. What had he even been thinking..

She followed her ghost with a short jump and stood in front of the chest. With a swift kick the crate sprang open. Instantly a recording began to play, same thing as the ones before, but this one was dedicated..to herself.

“So… Nevia.. My wife. Still can’t believe you married an old buckethead like me. Lucky for you, though, the lifespan of a Hunter Vanguard isn’t so long these days.” She sat down in front of the crate, while listening to his words. She would smack his head later for them.. 

“You are currently out with Coco on patrol, while I’m recording this. Sundance insisted that I make one for you two out of a simple reason, she said.. Because most likely you would find all those crates, since you killed the one guy who killed me. What can I say? They probably lay somewhere with a sword in their backs.. No wait.. Nevermind.. You would never leave one of your swords behind.” 

She smiled lightly, while Chia pushed herself into her hood and snuggled against her neck. 

“Anyway. Here is me, rambling. Like always. I’m bad at this, ain’t I? I used to laugh at Andal, y’know? For falling for such a tiny pile of rage.. I ended up referring to this person as mum.. Ah well, you know Yvette. She hates it. At least that’s what she says, but I think she actually doesn’t mind it.” The Cayde in the recording changed his tone of voice.. from easy going to more serious. That was rare. 

“I have kept secrets from you. Yes, shouldn’t have done that.. I know that now, but then.. I’m sorry, just so you know. You probably already thinking about how to solve this puzzle.. No need to tell you not to do it, right? Just.. Leave your whispering companions at home this time? Please? See it as my last will? Oh yeah and take care of Ace.. don’t wander off into too many hive tunnels, I’m not there to be your knight in shining armor this time.” 

A small tear slipped over her cheek and she hugged her legs to her chest. A thousand questions raced through her mind, bombarding her all at once. It almost made her forget that Cayde was actually alive at this very moment, recovering from the heavy hits he had taken, but he could also have died.. If she would have been a second later.. His voice interrupted the dark path her thoughts were taking. 

“Naturally, I leave all my worldly possessions to you, including my debts! But you knew about those, when you married me.. You did, right? I told you? No? Aw, hell man. Nevermind then! Take good care of everyone.. Or let them take care of you. Don’t go down that path, I know you want to, but don’t. Keep fighting. You are not alone.. And.. for what it’s worth.. I’m sorry we never could.. set our plans into action.. You know? Having a family and such.. You were the best thing an old bastard like me could hope for.. Did I deserve it? I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that I will always owe you one..More than one actually. For everything. Keep her safe, Chia. I know you’re listening.”

By the end of the recording, Nevia was sobbing and her face was covered in tears. Her ghost tried everything to comfort her, but there was nothing she could actually do or say to calm the huntress down. Chia was clearly in distress, but it didn’t take too long for Nevia to regain a hold of herself. She wiped the wetness from her cheeks and smiled at her ghost. They would be fine. Cayde was alive and recovering.. They would make it through this, even if they lost Sundance. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save your friend, Chia..” The two ghosts had been very close. They were all part of the same family. “I wish, I could have been faster..”

“I don’t think we could have been faster.. A second later and Cayde would have been dead, too and..I’m glad we saved him.” Chia snuggled against Nevia’s neck and gave a small chirping sound, though a moment later she left and hovered in front of her guardian’s eyes. “There is an incoming transmission from the Tower. I don’t recognize the code.” 

“Patch’em in.” Nevia jumped to her feet and stretched her arms, she picked up her sword and returned it to her hip. She checked her ammo reserves and then started to make her way out of this… she couldn’t even name it. Back to the surface, however. 

Her comm device crackled for a second, before an all to familiar voice dropped in. “Hey babe.” 

“Cayde! You are awake.. Oh shit!” She barely dodged the shot of a Hive Knight and rolled to the side, fighting off a Thrall with her small knife. 

“Yes.. what.. Are you fighting?” She could hear a chuckle in the background, but was too busy finding her way through hordes and hordes of Hive. Something must have stirred them up. 

“Well, yes! I’m trying to repair you gun, Sherlock. You have some explaining to do, my lovely husband.” Her words were without anger, more irritation. “Ever heard something about a Long Slow Whisper?” 

“Nevia…”

“Don’t, Cayde. Not now.. I just.. I’m happy you’re back, alright? Let me get back to the tower..and we talk. And tell Shiro to stop cackling. I can hear him over the shrieking of a Wizard.” She dodged another attack, dropped onto the ground and slid over, slicing up an Akolyt from below. “I’m kinda busy here so I will see you in a few hours… Get some more rest..”

“Nah, they patched me up good, even repaired my face. Just the handsome guy you always knew.”

Nevia shook her head, while opening fire again and Chia killed the commline. 

~~

She returned to the tower by dusk. Nevia made her way to her apartment and dropped her armor, covered in filthy Hive goo. She took a shower, even if Chia commented on how dumb she was acting, since Cayde just woke up from near death. However, she refused to smell terribly when she went to meet him in the hospital wing. 

A lot of people greeted her on the way to the infirmary, but she barely returned any. Nevia was widely known over the tower, of course, but she still hated people. People outside of her family, that be said. She moved over the courtyard, passing Banshee and Zavala without giving them any further notice, to the elevators that would take her a few floors downwards. 

When she returned to Cayde’s room, though, something surprising waited for her. He wasn’t there, neither were Coco or Colonel. Nevia frowned deeply and turned back around to leave, going in search for her husband. 

Noises from the end of the corridor caught her attention and the huntress moved cautiously towards them. A very familiar voice was arguing with two of the nurses here. A small smile appeared on her face, as she rounded the corner. Cayde was standing in a wide hospital shirt and some rocked down sweatpants, arms crossed over his chest and blue optics narrowed at the two women in front of him. “Nah, no way I’m staying in that room for the next two weeks. Ain’t one for sitting still, ladies.” 

“I’m sorry, Mister, but we have strict orders from the Doctor, that you are not allowed to leave your room until your brain circuits are fully functioning again.” The young, human woman tried to explain. Nevia leaned against the doorframe, smirk on her lips. 

“Well, y’know, lady, first don’t ‘Mister’ me. I have a name. Besides… My brain circuits haven’t been functioning for a few centuries, so will you please stop bothering me.” 

The nurses wouldn’t back down, so she thought, she should step in, pushing herself away from the door and walking towards the scene. “He’s right, but that doesn’t mean things have to get worse.” 

Once she spoke up, Cayde turned towards her, his artificial eyes lit up. The two women also gave her their attention and looked her up and down. “Who are you?” The tone in the other’s voice was skeptical and questioning. Her gaze was so stern, it might as well could have matched Zavala’s.

“I’m his wife.”, Nevia replied in a deadpan voice. 

“Yep! That she is! Now listen to my wife and let me go.” He made various gestures with his hands and tried to get away, but when he passed her by, Nevia grabbed his shirt and stopped him. 

“You are not going anywhere. We are going to get back to your room. You have some explaining to do.” Her eyes wandered to the two nurses, narrowing. “And you will not bother us. You may ask Lord Shaxx about it, but he has seen what happens if someone annoys me.”

She couldn’t see their paled faced, because Nevia was already dragging Cayde away down the corridor, back to his hospital room, then only she let him go and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling conflicted about how to start and he seemed to be the same. He sat on his bed, watching her with uncertainty. She moved to settle down next to him and leaning her head against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Cayde..”

He put an arm around her and shook his head. “I don’t remember much.. Probably something damaged up there.” He poked his forehead. “Sundance is gone, I… I got her killed.. This is on me, Nevia. Stepped in the shit big time.” She had a hard time keeping her emotions under control and not just burst into tears of relief. “There’s no coming back from this, I guess…”

“No, Cayde.. You’re still alive.. Fuck, I’m glad you are still here...I.. I’m sorry, I just suck with words.” That was, when she started crying for real, only speaking between sobs. “I thought you were dead… When I saw you down there. I just….” Cayde moved them, gently pulling her with him so they laid down together on the hospital bed, his arms wrapped around her and one of her own laying across his stomach. 

“We don’t gotta talk about this now, yeah? Let’s just.. I dunno..” He gave a static sigh and just pulled her closer. “You know what I remember? I saw you, my little Poledancer, using Solar powers.” 

“Guess ‘m not a Poledancer anymore.. When.. “ She paused, clenching her eyes together, trying to hold back more tears, while she thought about Sundance’s death. Cayde was probably in so much pain right now and they both were too socially unskilled to actually talk about it. But they could just be there for each other, couldn’t they? “Sundance.. left us.. Me and Chia got hit by a wave of light and after that.. My Arc powers pulled away from me. When I jumped down to save you, I just reached for it and there was just the Solar light.. no Arc? I guess, I’m a flashy Solar user now..”

Cayde chuckled. “You have to be more cheerful now.” 

That was the man she knew, always laughing through all the suffering.. Something, she always appreciated about him. “Guess so..” And they fell silent, something rare for them during their whole relationship. Nevia listened to Cayde’s inner workings, it calmed her nerves and made her pulse slow down. His hand was resting on her back, thumb drawing lazy circles she felt well enough through the fabric of her hoodie. 

“I don’t think so.”, she mumbled into his shirt. “We should talk about your problem, though… And what I found on Titan..” 

“What were you doing on Titan anyway? We could have repaired it here in the tower.. You weren’t supposed to hear those messages, Nevia…”

“I know, but.. I needed to do something and before you left for the Reef you put your journals on the nightstand. Did you want me to find them?” She turned her head a little, so she could look at him. It had been sitting in her mind for a while. If he didn’t want her to see these things or hear the recordings, than why would he put it up there?

“Since we’re being honest and all.. I wasn’t sure, if I was coming back. Reef looked bad and what had gone down before. Was just shit, y’know? I wanted you to know everything. And then we left. I asked Sio and you to come along because I knew, you two watch each other’s back as well as mine.. But.. I can’t remember what happened after the Security Hub.. And well.. You know.” He chuckled and Nevia smiled lightly, though it died pretty quickly. 

“Cayde… What’s the Long Slow Whisper?”, she asked carefully. 

“I told you about the Deep Stone Crypt.. Roughly. I know Echo did, as well… We Exo’s dream of it and blablabla. Well.. I didn’t buy all this. You know me.. always pushing his nose where it isn’t supposed to be..”

“You don’t have a nose.”

“That’s beside the point!” He sounded so offended, it almost made her smirk. “The point is, I found it. I found the facility, where the Exo’s were created and resetted, where Clovis Bray had their little experiments and tried to make mechanical soldiers.. I had to stop my investigation, so I left the information for Petra to figure things out. She is good at that.” 

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

“Because.. I didn’t want you anywhere near this.. If I died, you would be suffering enough.” 

Nevia freed herself out of his embrace and sat up, looking at him with a slight frown on her forehead. “It doesn’t matter. You’re alive, I heard the messages.. And your questions are still there. Maybe.. we can work on it together?” 

Cayde made a static sound, that almost was comparable to a snort. “Zavala and Ikora would never let us do that… Aside from that.. I would rather know where Siobhan is. I heard from Shiro that she went dark after the Prison and nobody has heard from her.” 

“We can look for her.. You are right. I’m worried, too, but we can’t do anything from here. We need to get you out of the Tower..” She made a thoughtful face and toyed around with the sleeves of her hoodie. “And you don’t have Light. We have to be careful.”

“Nevia, I might not have my light anymore.. But I’m still the best damn shot in the City and beyond. If you want to do this.. We’re doing this. Together, this time. We always work better as a team.” 

She smiled honestly this time, for the first time in days, returning to her position by his side. Nevia wasn’t sure, if she could stick to this believe, since any death would be his final one.. Worry bit into her heart. Worry for her best friend, who was somewhere out there and no way for Nevia to reach her and for her husband, who longs for an adventure even without his Light.. Maybe to forget the pain of losing said Light and his ghost.. 

“First you rest.. Power down a little. I’ll be here. Where are Coco and Colonel by the way?”

“Shiro took Coco with him to the Iron Temple, you know how much she loves playing with the wolves. And Colonel is with Anna.” 

She just nodded and cuddled closer to her. He felt different now. There was no connection of their energy, that could latch onto one another. They would get used to it, eventually. Most important thing was, that they still had each other.


	3. The Tangled Shore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (I'm aware that I didn't put a song quote here, since I couldn't think of any. Also this is shorter than the others, as it is more of an in between chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nevia and Cayde make their way to the Tangled Shore to find out what happened to their friend, which ends different than they expected it to be. At least for Nevia.

The room was dark still and completely silent. Nothing filled the empty space except for the sound of deep, even breaths from the huntress.

Nevia was curled up against Cayde’s side, her arm over his stomach and cheek resting on his chest. He held her in his own arms, almost too tight as if she could vanish any moment he let go. It was actually exactly this, what woke her up in the end… And that his hand was grabbing one of her breasts. She opened her eyes and instantly had a deadpan expression on her face. Reaching for his wrist, she gently pulled the hand away and placed it on her waist. 

That caused him to stir slightly. Usually, Cayde slept like a dead man, but many things had changed on one day.. So many things. It was that moment, when she realised how cold he felt without his light. The solar warmth was missing.. and she felt like she was overheating. 

“You took my hand pillow away.” He didn’t sound like he was just waking up. So he just pretended to be asleep. Asshole. 

“And you were acting like you were asleep.” She freed herself from his embrace and sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes and rolling her shoulders, which gave a quiet cracking noise. The mood this morning was heavy and they both knew why. Nevia didn’t meet his gaze, just focussed on her own hands. 

“Listen, I didn’t want to wake you.. Got enough to think about. Also, you looked very cute when you were asleep.”, he started. “But what I’m actually wanting to say is. I’m sorry, okay? Sorry.. I shouldn’t have kept this a secret, I should have told you. I know, you want to do things together but I didn’t want to have you anywhere near this.. I was scared. Yes, I admit it. Shocking, right? But you weren’t supposed to hear this before I was dead and I’m kinda safe from the consequences and..”

“Cayde! Will you shut up!”, she snapped at him. 

“Yes, okay, right, shutting up.” He visibly flinched and sat up, back against the wall. He was tense, probably expected a giant rant of her at how angry she was and how betrayed she felt, but instead…

“I know, you’re sorry… and I understand your point.” She turned around and shifted a bit, so she could sit on his lap, looking into his blue optics with a gentle, but sad smile. Nevia reached up and placed both of her hands on each side of his face. “It doesn’t matter. You hear me? You are still here. You are alive.. We got a second chance and I don’t intend to waste it with senseless arguments..” 

“You sure, I didn’t die?” If he could have a smirk on his face, he would have one right now, she just knew it. 

“I don’t appreciate these kind of jokes right now, Cayde..” There was still so much left unsaid. But how could they speak about the day in the Prison of Elders? Not here.. Not in a small room somewhere in the hospital on the tower. They had to get out.. Get their heads cleared and then maybe they could talk. “We need to get out of here.. I.. I did some thinking.”

“That must have been hard.” 

The comment earned him a smack on his chest, but Nevia’s expression stayed serious. “I know, you’re lightless now, but you are by any means not defenseless so.. I think we should get out. Who is new Hunter Vanguard anyway?”

“Oh, if you’re asking about the Vanguard Dare… You’ll see and I would love to get out of this room, this hospital and this tower. Been here long enough.” 

~~

“You are pretty lucky, that Exo’s can’t gain any weight.”, Nevia teased him, as he put on his armor and closed the buckles on the belts. They finally would be able to leave the hospital. Ace was repaired and ready to be picked up. Not many knew of their plans to leave the tower in the quiet of the night. Kura, who was their new Hunter Vanguard by the way, had offered to have their backs. Amanda, of course, knew about it and if there was someone they could count on in the Tower currently, it was her. 

“Why thank you for your kind words, my beloved wife.” He looked at her with narrowed optics and finished dressing, kicking the hospital shirt to the side. He clearly had no love for it. “I hope it’s late enough. I will send a message to Ikora once we’re in Orbit. We are taking my ship, by the way. It’s just bigger than yours.”

“Do you want to start a bigger than yours contest now?” She smiled slightly, amused, trying to keep the mood easy. They were about to do something very stupid and very impulsive, but that’s how they were. Both pure hunters. 

“What I want is to grab my gun, board my ship and get the hell outta here. And then I want some adventure. Didn’t have one in a while.. y’know.. without the fate of the world at stake.” Nevia watched him carefully, as he put his stuff together and strapped Andal’s cloak to his shoulders. He didn’t seem to have any issues..physically at least. She would have to keep an eye out, especially when they were away from the City soon. 

The courtyard was almost empty and the Guardians, who were still there didn’t seem to notice them, as they made their way to the hangar. Amanda was already waiting next to Cayde’s ship, the infamous ‘Queen of Hearts’.. Which was also Nevia’s username for the Towernet. 

The Shipwright stood there, arms crossed over her chest and a cheeky grin on her lips. “Goin’ anywhere, ya two lovebirds? Super late honeymoon?” Nevia rolled her eyes and gave her a short hug. Amanda patted her shoulder and smacked Cayde’s cheek. “She’s good to go. I advice you get outta the hangar and put a bit of distance between you and the Tower, before you sent Mrs. Warlock Vanguard a message.” 

“You bet I do. Can you get us out without all the blablabla protocols?” His hand rested on the hull of his ship, while he watched her with curious eyes. Nevia had already climbed on one of the Queen’s wings, her legs hanging from the side, while she waited for her husband to finish up, so they could finally leave. 

“Sure thing, I’ll help you two. Just me who gets the lecture from Tower Dad.” It wasn’t said with any spite behind it, more of a teasing and friendly tone. 

“Nah, he loves you. He would rather chase me down to whoop my ass. See ya, Amanda.” Cayde vanished into blue shine. Chia transmatted him to the ship to cut off the conversation. Nevia smiled down at the other woman.

“Thanks, Manda. We’ll stay in touch.” And she was gone too. 

Inside of the ‘Queen of Hearts’, up in Earth’s orbit, Cayde threw around the bags with their belongings, they had transmatted here already like..yesterday.. Nevia sat in the pilot seat and pressed various buttons, Chia hovering next to her. The Ghost’s shell wildly shifting, processing new data, so she could fly the ship later by herself, should they need some rest. 

“You might be interested in the message, I just got from Kura.” Cayde flopped down onto the passenger seat next to Nevia and handed her a holopad. It showed a message from Kura, saying that she got note from Sio and something about a new activity for the Guardians called ‘Gambit’. Seemed illegal.. She was interested, but that was for later. At least now they knew, that she was alive… but where? “I know the guy, who wants to set this stuff up. Ran with his crew once.. long..long ago. Nobody actually knows anything about him. He calls himself ‘The Drifter’. Not weird at all, right?”

“So what you’re saying is.. is that this mysterious Drifter-Dude hangs out somewhere with Sio? Or has at least seen her? Cayde, you know I’m not gonna settle down, until I know what’s up with my best friend.” Nevia handed him back the holopad and frowned deeply. 

“Yeah yeah. Easy, Babe. I’ll roll through my database and see what I can find. I can only think of one place, where Sio could have vanished. Thinking about that it’s still in the Reef and the peacock of a bitch prince surely doesn’t leave it. Putting everything we know together and considering that the Drifter is involved.” Cayde got up and punched in the coordinates into the navigation system and a moment later, they were off to..wherever he sent them. 

“What kind of shithole is that?” This. Exactly this was Nevia’s first reaction to the Tangled Shore. A broken part of the Reef and when she asked Chia for a heads up, her ghost explained it was a wasteland full of smugglers, Fallen and other criminals. “I’ve seen a lot of crappy places in my time but this.. You sure about that, Cayde?”

“Yep. If Sio went on a hunt for the Barons and Prince Peacock it would probably be here. There is a person, we can ask.. Not sure, if he’ll give anything away, but it’s worth a shot.” 

The ‘Queen of Hearts’ stopped close over the ground of dark purple and grey dust, Chia transmatting them including their sparrows down to the Tangled Shore. Cayde knew where he was going, so Nevia decided to simply follow his lead, just watching out for any Scorn, Fallen or whatever scum was lurking around here. 

“Not really much Scorn left here… Only piles of corpses.. I guess we’re on the right track.” He stopped next to a dead Raider and examined him carefully. “Void burn. Sio’s been around, I guess. Let’s go and ask.. and be prepared to hide your Ghost.”

“My Ghost?”, Nevia asked confused and Chia’s shell moved rapidly in response, too. But she didn’t get an answer, as they made their way through a bunch of small corridors and she noticed that the caches around looked like those, she had seen in the EDZ. Fallen caches. Shooting her husband a skeptical side glance, but yet following him. 

Nevia’s first impression of the Spider, how she would later come to know him, was ‘Damn, that’s one big Fallen’. What was more surprising than his basic size, was the way he spoke. “Look, who has come back from the dead! Cayde-6.. ooh and company. Greetings…?”

She wanted to reply, but Cayde was quicker. “Not as dead, as you might’ve wanted it, Spidey. And that’s Nevia, she’s a fellow hunter.” He wasn’t introducing her as his wife, as usual, for good reason, as she suspected. “We came looking for another Guardian, has been probably raging all over the shore and don’t try to shit us, we saw the dead Scorn and the Void burn.”

The Spider laughed, a deep roaring sound, that carried something terrifying with it. “Right to business, I see. Well, sadly I can’t offer you any information about said Guardian, because keeping silent about her location was part of our deal.” 

Nevia noticed the not so subtle hint that he dropped towards them and appreciated it. So Sio was here.. and working with the Spider. She wasn’t sure if this was a relief or even more to worry about. At least they had a lead now… But she, as usual, couldn’t leave it like that. She wouldn’t deal with a Fallen crime boss, just because this guy felt like he was the only person, who had something to say here. Her hand was slowly wondering to the grip of her sword. 

“Where is my friend?”, was all she asked, her voice darker than usual and the tone threatening. Cayde turned his head towards her, optics wide. “You will tell me where she is.”

“Or what, little huntress?”

“Or she will be quiet now, because she sometimes doesn’t know when to stop talking, right?” Cayde reached for her wrist and gave it a firm squeeze. It was a warning. She was overstepping boundaries and she knew that. But this was Siobhan, they were talking about. Her best friend, like a sister to Cayde. Nevia shot him an angry look and kept silent. “Thanks for the time, Spidey, we shall take our leave.” 

“Very well, my swift friend. Oh and if your little huntress ever looks for work… You know where to find me.” Spider chuckled and leaned back in his chair..throne?

She ripped her wrist free from her husband’s grip and turned around to leave with hurried steps, wanting to get away. Nevia jumped on her sparrow, but didn’t drive forward. She was waiting for Cayde to catch up on her. 

“Are you crazy? He could have killed you! Don’t you have any sense of self preservation?!” But all the answer he got was a silent stare. He understood, she knew he did, but he was just as afraid of losing her, as she was of losing him. Admitting this to herself, Nevia sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry.. I worry so much for her..”

“Threatening the most dangerous Fallen in this system isn’t the solution to that, Nevia.”

“So, where do we go from here? We know she is around.. But your friend didn’t give us much.” She losend the ties of her cloak a little and looked thoughtful at the buildings scattered around in Thieves’ landing. 

“Didn’t expect him too. But you know she’s alive. Babe, I don’t think Sio wants to be found. Nightstalkers are like that sometimes.. And after everything that happened with Prince Peacock.. I had my suspicions. Maybe you want to leave her alone for now?” Cayde narrowed his optics a little and started the engine of his sparrow. 

“Sio’s my best friend, Cayde. Just dropping it like that feels like abandoning her. Even if she wants to be left alone, I have to find her and at least know from herself that she’s alive and .. not alright, but just not seriously injured. There are things Arawn can’t heal..” She thought about the Taken disease of Siobhan. She could never forgive herself if something happened, and she could have done something.

“I’m just tellin’ you. She might not want to be tracked down.” 

Nevia felt frustrated, slowly letting her sparrow hover forward towards the edge of the cliff, her foot pushing up against one of Spider’s crates and with an angry yell she kicked it down into the nothingness of space. “I’m going to stab this fat asshole.” 

“No, you will not. Because I very much cherish you being alive. Can you please stop now?” She was about to kick down another crate, though Cayde was able to stop it by grabbing the rope, which held it in place. “Let’s return to the ship and we can figure out, what we’re doing next.” 

~~

The mood on the ‘Queen of Hearts’ was tense. Nevia and Cayde hadn’t exchanged a word since they returned from the Tangled Shore, in which Orbit they were now. Chia hovered from one Hunter to the other, unsure what to do about the silence between them. Nevia busied herself in taking care of her weapons. Her mind was racing with worry, anger and frustration, but also doubt. What if Sio wouldn’t want her to find her after all? She had no idea what happened after the Prison of Elders, no word nothing. Her best friend was missing and nobody seemed to bother finding her..

Or maybe they just knew better.. 

She hadn’t been around when Emyr died. 

The huntress let out a frustrated growl and kicked against a crate in the ship. It startled Cayde enough that he dropped the holopad. “Nevia, take a deep breath. We will find her, when she wants to be found. Siobhan is one hell of a hunter, we both know it. You fought Oryx with her. You know what she can do.” 

“Why do you have to make sense?!”, she snapped but instantly regretted her tone, sinking to the ground, hugging herself. Lost in her own thoughts and troubles, she didn’t notice the steps coming towards her. Cayde sat down by her side, wrapping an arm around Nevia and forcing her gently to lean against him. 

“She’s going to be alright. Arawn will contact you, if anything happens.”

“So where to next then?” Nevia looked up at Cayde, who only let out an amused chuckle. 

“We’re going to visit Petra, of course! Chia, can you contact Petra?” 

Nevia’s Ghost’s silver shell swirled wildly, as she looked at the former Vanguard with her single optic. “You want to stop looking for Siobhan, but go to see Petra instead? I.. Uhm..” 

The huntress smiled and poked her shell lightly. “It’s alright, Chia. Sio will be alright. We have another friend, who needs our help.”


	4. The Dreaming City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nevia and Cayde make their way to the Dreaming City.

Take me to the water   
Where the river meets the sea   
Let the memory of rising tide   
Come washing over me   
I saw fire consume the trusting   
With the victims still naive   
And so they bleed 

Aviators - Red Water Dreams.

~~~~

Nevia sat on the edge of their shared bed roll in the back of the ‘Queen of Hearts’. She scratched her fingernails over the stubbly skin of her head, thinking hard about what had happened in the Tangled Shore. By now they had made a stop in Europe for around three weeks, visiting the spot where they had spent their few days of honeymoon, they could have gotten when Cayde was still actively working as Hunter Vanguard. Now, nobody disturbed them, but they stayed in the ship overnight. Maybe, they should visit the Iron Temple to check on Coco, but.. that would probably only irritate Saladin.

She let out a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. A warm hand settles at her back, lightly clawing into the wide sleeping shirt, pulling her back. “It’s too early, babe… Go back to sleep..” 

“You don’t even know what time it is, Cayde.” She turned her head a little to give the grumbling Exo behind her a short glance. 

“Exactly.. Now come here.” He opened his arms in a terrible dramatic way, causing her to smile softly and actually move. Nevia laid back down and curled herself up against his chest. “Can’t believe how warm you are now. Is this how you felt every time?”

“Pretty much… Just that you kinda have a double heat from you being a Buckethead and solar Guardian.. were.. I don’t know.” They still haven’t actually talked about what had happened in the Prison after their brief conversation in the hospital. They both were terrible with words and speaking about their feelings and emotions. It was a disaster. 

“None of that. Go back to sleep.” 

She knew, she wouldn’t be able to, but Nevia decided to give him some peace of mind and at least pretend she would be sleeping. It had been hard to rest since the whole thing in the Prison of Elders went down. She found herself always scared that something could happen to Cayde, or someone meaning to hurt him. She was aware of how unhealthy it was, but there was no way she could help herself. 

“I can literally hear you brooding.”, his voice crackled a bit with static, he was about to power down to get more rest. 

“You can’t hear shit, Cayde.” Nevia put an arm around his middle and pressed a kiss to the soft material covering his neck. “I love you.”, she mumbled quietly. 

His arms only embraced her closer. If there was a place in this universe she would call home it was right here. At least this whole horror had one good side.. They had more time for one another, not only two or three hours before they both crashed in bed after a long day of work. “Love ya, too.” And so they both settled back down to get some more sleep. Once they got word from Petra, things would probably get busy and troublesome again, but they were both loyal to their friends and if they could help, they would. 

While Nevia was still waiting for a sign from Siobhan, the absence of her best friend was something she felt everyday. Cayde had convinced her to trust in the Nightstalker, though and that she would take the step, once she was ready. She tried to shake the feeling of unease off and snuggled closer into her husband’s chest. The sound of his inner workings calming her nerves, but sleep wouldn’t come.

Silence fell over the ‘Queen of Hearts’ for another hour. While Cayde was resting on his back, one arm behind his head, optics off, Nevia had her eyes wide open. Even with being a lot more at ease, than before, her brain was still racing. It was a habit of hers.. Overthinking anything or not thinking about something at all. She freed herself from his close embrace and stood up, stretching her arms, letting her shoulders crack and the instant relief made her sigh. 

The moment she was back on her feet, Chia appeared by her side, following her as Nevia walked over to the small counter, which served as their kitchen for the moment, and put on some coffee. She rubbed her eyes, feeling tired like she just ran through the whole Dreadnought again. “You alright, Chia?” She looked at her ghost, as the coffee poured into the cup. 

“I am! I’m glad you two have some time for yourselves and I didn’t want to disturb you, but I got a message from Petra around thirty minutes ago.” Her shell swirled a little. 

“What does it say?” Nevia dropped a few cubes of sugar into her mug and waited patiently.

“That she cleared the path to the Dreaming City and requests backup, instantly. Seems very urgent..” Her single optic narrowed. 

“What is a Dreaming City? Is that some weird Awoken hocus pocus again? These people cause nothing but bullshit..” She filled in some milk to her coffee, forehead pulled into a deep frown. 

“It indeed is.. These things are probably better explained by Petra, but as far as I understand it, it’s where the Awoken live outside of the Reef?” 

“You tellin’ me.. I guess, we’ll help.. Petra is our friend. Let’s just wait until Cayde is up and then we can be on our way. Can you get a message to Shiro and let him know where we are going? I would like someone to know, unless things go south.” 

“We’re going south?” Cayde hopped up from their makeshift bed. He walked up to Nevia and put an arm around her waist, while reaching for another cup and starting to make coffee. In the meantime, she explained to him the message Petra sent and they talked for a while, what they should do. The answer was pretty clear. Break up tents and off to make their way back to the Tangled Shore, to the coordinates, which had been sent earlier. Nevia had to promise, though, that she wouldn’t anger the Spider anymore, than she already did, also not to ask anymore questions about Siobhan. Both of these were pretty difficult for her but she clenched her teeth and would just pass by to the Watchtower. 

The Awoken Watchtower at the edges of the Reef was a sight to behold. Nothing like Nevia had ever seen and she saw a lot of things in her time as a Guardian. Even Cayde was quiet for a moment, when Chia transmatted them in front of the gate. Piles of dead Scorn scattered along the path, burned by Void just like those in the Tangled Shore. The two hunters exchanged a glance, but none of them said anything. 

They entered the tower and climbed up a set of stairs. Everything was in crystalline colours. Light purple and blue, accompanied by gold and silver. Too much for Nevia’s taste. She stopped in front of a huge stone, watching as Chia scanned it, informing them that this stone wasn’t from their system. Not exactly surprising considering the weirdness that the Awoken were. This whole building felt so surreal. 

A few corridors away things began to turn dark. Taken goo was dripping from the ceiling onto the floor, building puddles of black fluid full of something that looked like starlight. Last time they both had to confront the Taken were during the Taken War. Nevia crouched down a little, examining the substance with a deep frown on her face. “She could have warned us about Taken.. Chia, how far is the portal?” 

“Not far, through the next big hall and then to the right, up the stairs.”, her ghost spoke rather over the comms, instead of leaving the safety of her hiding place. Cayde just crossed his arms over his chest and looked around. 

“We should head out. I would like to know what’s actually going on with Petra. Taken being involved that’s.. bad.” He paused for a moment and looked down the long corridor. Nevia couldn’t say she felt good with him being close to the Taken, which they eventually would encounter in this strange place. She would protect him, if it would cost her her own life, there was no doubt in her mind. 

She had no argument against them moving on, however, being grateful that they really didn’t encounter any more Taken on their way to the big chamber which hosted the teleporter to the Dreaming City. Or was it a portal? She couldn’t tell. Cayde was eager to see this place, keeping on rambling about questions he used to ask Petra regarding the Awoken homeland. Nevia listened patiently. She was just interested in helping their friend and then moving on. They had so many other mysteries to uncover.. 

Turned out the passage to the Dreaming City actually was a portal. Chia managed to activate it rather easily thanks to the instructions sent by Petra. The two hunters approached the big portal and looked up, Nevia more worried than her husband. As if he could sense her distress, Cayde reach out and took her hand in his, a gentle expression in his artificial eyes when she turned towards him. 

“What can happen on the other side? Oryx coming back from his grave?..” He seemed to be frowning, the metal plates on his forehead shifting lightly. “That was a bad joke. But anyway! Let’s go! We’ll be fine. We always are, right?”

She couldn’t stop the loving smile on her lips. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, when she gave his hand a light, affectionate squeeze and nodded. “We’ll be fine.” 

They took the step through the portal together, never letting go of the other while the odd feeling of being ripped apart by reality got a hold on them. It felt like being pulled behind a sparrow, as if the air wanted to rip them apart, but never did. Very different from the sensation of a transmat, that was sure. 

The bright light on the other side blinded her sensitive eyes. Nevia covered her face with her free hand, the other still holding onto Cayde, who just let out a disbelieving laugh. “Will you look at that!” But she couldn’t. Her eyes were still adjusting to the surroundings and her sight only cleared slowly. The white shine only fading over the passing moments, forcing her to blink several times. 

The image that offered itself to her, once she was able to see again, was something she couldn’t have formed in her dreams. They stood in the middle of a flat lake. Maybe sea? Covered by mist and accompanied by a gentle warm breeze. In the background a city rose from the hills. One could only describe it as massive, artistic and otherworldly. Large towers watched over the whole region, one especially prominent, apparently in the middle of everything. Some of the buildings were covered by Taken fluid. It crawled up the walls like a spreading disease. In the distance, one could hear the deep roar of an Ogre. 

“Well, that sounds promising!” Cayde reached for the Ace of Spades and reloaded. He seemed to be so excited for this new adventure. It was only proof that the Light wasn’t what made a Hunter a Hunter. The sense for adventure and setting foot on new ground, going where nobody else had been before. “Come on. I bet Petra is already waiting for us.” He was so bouncy, jumping from one feet to the other. 

Nevia regarded him with a deadpan look, tearing her eyes away from the beauty of the city. She said nothing for a while, until he stopped his movements and looked at her. “What?”

“You’re far too happy about this.” For a moment she wanted to reach for her gun as well, but she decided differently and closed her hand around the grip of her sword. Quickfang left her hip with a quiet sliding nose and she examined the sword. Since Shaxx had taught her how to properly use a sword, this had been her companion through everything. A good, fast weapon. 

“Oh, she pulls out her sword. She means business.”, he teased with a low chuckle. 

Nevia couldn’t stop the small smirk on her lips and raised an eyebrow at him. “You two still want to meet each other? I’m sure Quickfang would be delighted!”

“No. No need. Thanks.” He ran down the path, still jumping over the gaps between the platform with the dexterity of any other Hunter. No Light needed. They made their way over to a site, none of them could actually identify. Awoken technology was weird. Like everything here. 

On the other side of a long bridge they were waiting. Taken. A few knights, Psions and Vandals. They didn’t give Nevia a moment to worry about her husband, because they started firing as soon as they laid eyes on them. Cayde jumped behind a pillar for cover, only peaking out and firing a few bullet. Every single one a headshot. Feeling safe enough with him as backup, Nevia held tight on her sword and charged forward over the bridge. 

She dodged a Thrall, which went instantly down with the sound of the Ace. She went for the Knight in the back, who was aiming at Cayde with fire. Quickfang’s blade sliced clean through the distorted body of the Knight, causing it to cry out in pain before going down. As they fought off the horde of enemies, a buzzing in her head distracted her for just one second. It was enough for a bullet coming from a Vandal to hit her. Chia was quick to heal it but she couldn’t get rid of this feeling. 

“Nevia?” Cayde sounded concerned, while he approached her and reloaded his gun. “What’s wrong?” 

Though the huntress covered her ears and shook her head shortly. It was almost like back on the moon, when she heard constant whispering and felt a presence behind her. She held up her hand to stop him from talking, used the moment of silence to focus her mind once more and then blinked. “Sorry..”

“It’s them things again, ain’t it? I wish you would just leave them.” He gestured towards the bones strepped to her arm and shoulder. 

“I know you do. Let’s keep moving. Chia, any word from Petra yet?” They climbed up some rocks and jumped down into a cave with more technology and a path leading up the hill. 

“None yet, but I got the signature of her ship close by, just follow that road here.”, her ghost suggested and vanished again. What Chia didn’t mention was the two Wizards guardian the gate. Petra’s ship was just hovering there, so she was probably inside. 

The thing about Hive Wizard was.. They never came alone. Aside from them a bunch of Thralls and Akolytes appeared out of thin air. Nevia and Cayde both jumped behind cover and took a hold of their guns. “Well, that’s Hive for you. Always here to crash a party.” The Exo looked over the crumbled piece of a wall and fired a few times, taking out three Thralls. 

“Sounds like you would make great friends!” Nevia smirked at him and jumped out of their cover, rolling behind another pillar. 

“Hey! That wasn’t nice!” His complains died with the bullets hitting their targets. Her reply was only clear laughter as burning throwing knives slit the throat of the first Wizard and it went down shrieking. She swirled around, looking at Cayde who was in his element, fighting like he always used to.. Until she spotted the other Wizard behind him..sneaking up… 

She frowned deeply, reaching for the Solar light in her veins, feeling the fire burning forward to the palm of her hands, where it formed eight bright knives. Nevia jumped into the air, aiming for the Wizard and unleashed her light upon it. Nothing was left but ashes. She blew out a bit of smoke and the glow faded from her hands. Cayde turned around, blue optics wide. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“You’re welcome. Let’s see if Petra is alright.” She ran up to the gate and tried to push it open, with little success. Once more she cursed her height and slender form. “Cayde! Would you mind?!” 

Her husband just stood there, arms crossed over his chest and a smug expression on his face, while he just waited for her to do something. When she raised her voice, he only laughed and lifted his hands. He walked over to her and together they pushed open the heavy door. It moved only slowly but eventually it gave away the sight of a huge machine of sorts? This city had more and more surprises for them, they could decide later if they liked it or not. 

Petra was standing in a hall down another set of stairs, fumbling around with some device. Nevia had a hard time understanding all the symbols on it, if any. The other Awoken woman turned towards them a soft smile on her face. She noticed that Petra’s outfit had changed completely, as if she wanted to show off to her Queen? Maybe? The fine white and purple attire sure looked like it. The huntress shook her head. 

“P.V. It’s been a hot minute, huh?” Cayde jogged down the stairs with arms open, though Petra didn’t take the hint, actually looking a bit awkward. Nevia just followed her husband calmly, not saying anything for the moment. 

“Cayde.. I.. I’m sorry.. for what happened. I shouldn’t have gotten you and the others caught up in this.” She looked truly sad, maybe even a little ashamed. Who knew what went on in these Reef Born's minds of theirs. “Are you sure that.. You’ll be alright being here?” 

“I’ll be just fine, don’t you worry about us.” At the mention of ‘us’ Petra turned to Nevia and the smile returned to her face. 

“I’m glad you’re both here. Especially you. The queen sealed these doors long ago but you deserve to learn about your people.” She seemed so happy about to tell Nevia all this, but she could only frown and cross her arms over her chest, simply nodding. She didn’t want to throw into her face that she didn’t give two fucks about the fate of the Awoken. 

“We’re mostly here because you’re our friend and we want to help you.”, Nevia replied after a moment and gestured towards the odd device. “Whatever you are working on.” 

“I have to show you something. Just give me a moment..” Petra turned back to the mechanism and started drawing lines over the odd screen. While she did her thing, Nevia started to feel uneasy. This place carried a strange aura and there was a constant buzzing and humming in her head. So the following words that came from their friend got completely lost. Hopefully they wouldn’t have a repeat of the Moon years ago. A gentle hand on her shoulder dragged her out of it. Nevia blinked a few times and looked into Cayde’s artificial eyes. 

“Doing alright?” 

“Sure.. I just..”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, because Petra raised her voice and spoke loud and clearly up to the odd machine. Both hunters were startled by the sudden shift and turned their gaze upon it as well. 

“Mara Sov, my Queen!”, she started and that was when Nevia zoned out. The Queen was dead. She didn’t want to have anything to do with her or her dealings with the Reef. She remembered the few times she was there with Sio. The Prison of Elders.. Variks.. Times when everything seemed so difficult but compared to now? All of this felt like centuries away. 

The buzzing in her head got worse and she lifted her hand towards Cayde, who narrowed his optics when his wife pulled away and moved up the stairs, leaning her forehead against the cool, otherworldly stone and it eased off the noise a bit. She lost track of time and couldn’t quite tell how much had passed, when Cayde’s boots stepped into her line of sight. She lifted her gaze slowly, making some gestures that she was alright. “What is it, that Petra wants?”

“We might want to talk about that...somewhere more private. Petra arranged a room for us to stay in above the Corsair barracks. We need to get these.. things off you. It’s because of those, isn’t it?” 

“Cayde.. Slow down. Please.” She turned and took his hand. Together they followed Petra into a part of the City, which wasn’t overrun by Taken. The few remaining civilians and Corsairs had pulled back and organized themselves to survive. Nevia recognized a few of them from the Reef, not that she ever talked to them but it was sad, troubled her. She liked to pretend that she didn’t care about the Reef, she really didn’t in a sense, but these people didn’t deserve this. 

If they could help, at least something good came out of everything. 

Their ‘room’ was more like a small apartment. Different from those they had in the tower, a lot more detail, decoration and absolute over the top. It looked comfortable enough. Once Petra left them alone and the door closed behind her, Nevia started to drop her armor careless on the floor, only leaving her in light pants and a wide shirt. “Will you tell me what the plan is now? I just couldn’t listen to the voice of this cursed woman. I’m going to keep my gun under my pillow. Don’t trust them.”

Cayde laughed at that and got rid of his gear as well. “What the great great Queen and her Wrath want us to help with is with their ‘little’ issue that lingers at the heart of this wonderful, horrifying place.” He paused and looked out of the gigantic panorama window, which overlooked the peaceful part of the City. “Nevia.. It’s an Ahamkara.” 

“An… What? How? They’re all dead?” Automatically her eyes went to the bones laying on the ground, covered by her cloak. 

“So we thought…Turns out the all knowing Queen of the Awoken kept them as pets and killed them when they turned out to be unpleasant. For some reason, I’m not surprised. I don’t know the whole story, you gotta ask their witches if you wanna know. Anyway, P.V. asked us to look into the situation. It’s pretty much in the heart of the city. She was trying to talk me out of it you know.. Because of everything.” 

“They want us to deal with a pet Ahamkara gone rogue?” She sat down on the bed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Alright… We’ve dealt with worse, yes? Crazy space rhinos, frustrated single dads and gates between time and space.. whatever. We can deal with this.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or him. “So.. Tomorrow.. We will look into this prison or wherever they keep their pet dragon.. I.. I can’t lie to you. I’m scared.” She looked down at her hands. 

Cayde set down by her side, one arm around her shoulder. “When was the last time we slept in a proper bed?” He decided to change the subject completely and she was thankful for that. 

“Been a while..” She leaned against him, a soft smile on her lips.


End file.
